Invasion
by Cuthalion97
Summary: Allura and Coran have a diplomatic meeting to attend. The paladins and Matt . . . do not. And yet there is something going on with the Castle - or perhaps an enemy has located them - all in all, perhaps Allura is a lot safer than the others.
1. Chapter 1

Pidge sat cross-legged at her station, monitoring scans of the magnetically charged atmosphere of the planet below the castle. 'The planet' – what was its name again? She frowned, peered more closely at the screen, and saw the word 'Tolsia' in bright red.

Tolsia. Was that 'Tol-see-a' or 'Tol-zee-a' or 'Tolja' or what? Pidge brought up a translation program that she had designed. "Okay," she muttered, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Cross-reference the castle's knowledge of Altean phonetics with whatever radio chatter I can pull up from the planet surface . . ."

Her headphones remained silent, and she pulled them off. Of course, how could she be so stupid? "Doggone magnetic storm," she said, more loudly than she had intended.

The other four paladins, casually dressed and standing more or less at attention, turned as one to look at her. She glanced to one side. "Um. Just talking to myself. . ."

Coran peered at her over his own computer. "Storm's getting worse, is it?" He looked out the bridge window. "Can't tell from here, I'm afraid!"

Hunk took a deep breath, obviously preparing to give a lecture on exactly how visible a magnetic storm would be in the first place, but Lance reached up and clapped a hand over his mouth.

Pidge ignored that, and Lance realized that she was still talking, presumably to Coran, as she faced in his general direction. " . . . and it looks like all radio signals are being blocked by the storm, so I've got no way of referencing the population's accent or anything. Maybe you could pick up some recordings while you're down there?"

Allura looked up. "It's possible, but whatever do you need them for?"

"So I can figure out how to pronounce the name . . . of . . ." She paused, looking around as though just realizing that the others were all staring meaningfully at her, and finished in a very small voice, ". . . the planet?"

Lance straightened up, courageously resisting the urge to snicker. "I forgot you weren't at the briefing."

"Ah! That would explain it." Coran tweaked the ends of his mustache into position and said, in very exaggerated tones, "TOL-zee-ah."

Pidge wrapped her hands around her crossed ankles and said, "Thanks."

"No trouble at all! Allura?"

"One moment . . . there." The princess tucked a wisp of hair behind one pointed ear and said, "I think we're ready. The defense systems have been fully charged and activated."

Coran tucked his thumbs into the lapels of his coat and rocked back on his heels. "Good! And I've got the shuttle ready."

Pidge, recovering from her former embarrassment, piped up. "The magnetic field just reached its weakest point. Now's your best chance to land on _Tolsia_."

Allura moved to the door, then glanced back. "Assuming all goes according to plan, we should be back in four vargas. But if anything should occur in the meantime –" She hesitated. "Coran, perhaps it would be best if you stayed. _Some_ one has to be able to pilot the castle in case of attack."

Shiro stepped forward, smiling reassuringly. "We'll be fine. Remember, we're the ones who have Voltron." His eyebrows creased in a small frown. "I'm more concerned about your going to this 'diplomatic meeting' without us."

"Yeah!" said Lance, folding his arms. "I've been wondering about that. How come we can't join you again?"

Coran held up a lecturing hand. "The Tolsians aren't exactly welcoming to newcomers. They'll allow the princess to visit, and I did a bit of arm-twisting to get them to let me come along, but I'm afraid you're stuck waiting this one out."

"We need to see where they stand in this war," Allura cut in. "They don't communicate much with other civilizations, but they have the resources to supply a Galra presence in this system indefinitely."

"What if they already are?" interrupted Hunk. "How do we know they aren't the enemy?"

"We don't!" said Coran cheerfully. "That's why we're going down."

"I still think you should take us," said Keith.

"There's no sense in making them feel threatened," Allura explained. "The Tolsians are a bit . . . timid."

"Timid?" said Lance. "Sounds more like paranoid."

Keith shifted his weight. "Sounds like a trap."

"Guys, enough," said Shiro. "The princess is right. If anything happens we'll go down, but not until then."

"The magnetic storm isn't going to let us communicate," frowned Pidge.

Allura made a gallant (and obvious) attempt to maintain her patient demeanor. "Paladins, please! Coran and I are going down to the surface. You have taken many necessary risks in this war, and this is no different."

Lance opened his mouth to say something about how a shuttle wasn't _at all_ the same as a big metal lion, but Shiro put a hand on his shoulder. "It'll be fine."

The Alteans left the bridge, and a few doboshes later a red indicator blinked, showing that the shuttle had launched. Pidge opened a general frequency, attempting to get some sort of signal, but gave up shortly after.

"No luck. Hunk, any ideas?"

He leaned on the back of her chair, peering over one shoulder. "Umm, maybe? . . . No. Oh man, that storm is _bad_."

"Think they'll be able to land?" added Keith, joining them.

Hunk nodded vehemently. "Trust me, Coran can do anything with one of those shuttles. He flew through the shafts in the Balmera like – it was amazing! I mean, _I_ was screaming the whole time, but . . ."

"I thought you said he crashed," said Lance, flitting from station to station and checking various readouts.

"Well, yeah, but that was _after._ "

Shiro came over. "I know none of you like this, but hanging around the bridge isn't going to do anyone any good. Let's get to work."

Pidge lifted her hand, casting one last, uncertain look at the flatlining receiver and deliberately clicked another button. "Bridge to engine room."

Matt's voice came back, chipper as usual. "Don't you mean 'Pidge to engine room?"

She ignored this remark with the ease of long practice. "You got that download ready to analyze yet?"

"Just about. If you come down and help me it would be faster, but – ya'know."

Pidge got up with an affected huff. "Fine. Fine. Your brilliant younger sister is coming to help you."

She clicked the button again, cutting off his protest, and stretched. "Hunk?"

He shrugged an apology. "Actually, I've gotta fix Yellow's speeder. It got a little banged up on our last mission."

"Okay, well, soon as I'm done helping Matt, I'll haul him over to Yellow's hangar, and we'll give you a hand."

"Thanks, Pidge!"

Hunk headed down the zipline and Pidge trotted off the bridge, her eyes alerady glazed over as she planned out her next project. Shiro moved to the main control center to check the scans. Keith fiddled with a control. Lance yawned.

"Nothing in range," Shiro reported, rubbing the back of his head. "I don't like this."

Lance snapped his mouth shut mid-yawn. "Uh, you don't like that we're currently in an enemy-free zone?"

"I can't be sure it _is_ enemy-free. This storm. . ." He made a few adjustments to the scanners and stared moodily at the display.

Keith watched him, face expressionless. "Shiro. How much sleep _didn't_ you get last night?"

"Yeah!" said Lance. "You're not usually this downbeat."

When he didn't answer, Lance exchanged looks with Keith and stepped forward. "Look, Shiro, if there was any danger, our lions would let us know, right?"

"I just . . ." Shiro shrugged. "Never mind. Guess I'm just feeling a little jumpy."

He left, adding over his shoulder, "I'm going to check on the others."

Lance twisted his mouth, his gaze sliding to meet Keith's. "He's not what I'd call the nervous type. What was that all about?"

Keith poked aimlessly at his display. "I dunno. Maybe something really is wrong."

"Maybe _we're_ just being jumpy," Lance replied, but he didn't look away from the radar.

"Y'know, Pidge boosted the signal, but I'm not getting anything. Not even from right near the castle."

"Maybe it's just not showing up." Keith activated the comms. "Coran? Allura?"

Static fizzed in reply, and Lance stuffed his hands in his pockets. ". . . Guess I'll go check in with Hunk."

"I'll stay. The signal might work once they've landed."

Lance gave him a half-hearted wave and slouched off. "Have fun."

 **First chapter up! I'm hoping to post Wednesdays and Sundays, as before, but I'll at least update weekly. All bets are off. . . :) Anyway, what do y'all think?**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is an early update. Sort of. . . :) This is actually the first story I've posted without having it mostly written, so updates will be slower than usual - although certainly never less than once per week. Enjoy, and please review!**

Pidge, flat on her back beneath a large metal desk, nudged Matt with her foot and said, "Next time we go the space mall, I'm _so_ getting new transfer cables. The stuff I have from when we left Earth got really beaten up."

Matt dropped to his knees and peered up at the connection she was carefully soldering. "Wow, what a piece of junk. And I thought _we_ had outdated supplies when I was working with the rebels."

The door opened, and he stood up again, narrowly missing smacking his head against a metal edge. "Oh, hey, Shiro."

"Hey. Just thought I'd check in and see how you were doing."

Pidge dropped her soldering iron for the fourth time and yelped, "Stupid, no-good thing!"

" _I'm_ doing well," said Matt, moving out of range of her foot. "But Pidge is kind of –"

His computer flashed an alert, and he paused to read it. His teasing expression sobered. "Guys, I've never seen a magnetic storm this bad. Sensors aren't picking up any transmissions, not even when I try to send a signal from the castle to itself."

"Wait." Pidge wriggled out from under the desk. "That doesn't sound right."

He moved aside, and she typed rapidly for a moment. "Matt, what exactly were you using?"

"Outer bridge transmitter to main communications port."

Shiro joined them and watched over her other shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"We're protected by a shield," she said tersely, eyes flicking back and forth as she accessed the schematics of the defense system. The hologram glowed blue, showing that all systems were online, but Pidge only frowned more. "The shield's more than adequate to protect us from the magnetism."

Matt grabbed his own laptop and flicked across the screen, sending Pidge a readout. "Everything looks right."

"But it's not."

They stared at each other for perhaps half a second before Matt's eyes widened and he leaned forward, slapping the alarm button. Sirens blared and red lights flickered as Shiro shouted, "Matt! What's wrong?"

Pidge hit the comms. "Lance, Hunk, Keith! Get down to the engine room on the double!"

"On our way!" Keith replied.

Matt typed frantically. "I'm activating security locks on all outer doors."

"Guys!" Shiro clenched his hand nervously. "What's going on?"

"We'll explain it in a minute," Pidge said, her own fingers flying. "Matt, activate protocol zero point nine on my mark."

"Ready when you are."

". . . three, two, one, _now_."

"Activated."

Hunk and Lance barreled into the room just then, Lance with his bayard, even though he was in normal clothes, and Hunk with his arms full of tools and metal bits. Keith skidded in an instant later, knife drawn, and glanced around.

Seeing no immediate threat, he lowered his weapon and turned to Pidge, waiting for an explanation.

She sent Matt some data before turning around. "Something's jamming our transmissions from inside the shield."

Hunk dropped his tools with a crash and hurried over to stare at the computer. "A direct transmission, too. Uh, guys, this is really not good."

"Slow down," begged Shiro. "Okay. What's blocking us, exactly, and why is it a problem?"

"Yeah," said Lance, scratching his head. "I thought we already knew the comms weren't working."

Pidge answered without looking up from her own screen. "Matt tried sending a direct transmission from one point on the outside of the castle to another, and it didn't go through. The only way that's even possible with the shielding technology we've got is if something _inside_ our shield is jamming us."

"Our external sensors are down, too," said Matt, shutting his laptop and getting up.

Hunk glanced around nervously. "If something's jamming us, that means someone else is inside our shield, right? . . . Right?"

"Unless the jamming device was sent in remotely, yes," said Pidge. "And there wouldn't be a point in doing that, apart from keeping us from making outer transmissions. And the storm's already doing that."

Keith stirred. "But how'd they get inside the shield in the first place?"

"They must have slipped in exactly as Coran and Allura left," said Pidge.

Lance brought his bayard up to ready position. "So you're telling me this was all planned."

"Yeah."

"And we don't know who it is."

"Right."

"And Coran and Allura are probably in trouble."

" . . . Probably."

Shiro let out a slow breath. "We need to find out who's out there, what they're after, and where Coran and Allura are."

"Let's go!" said Lance, heading for the door. He stopped short and turned around. "Yeah, how exactly do we go about that?"

A metallic screech vibrated through the floors, and the lights flickered.

Pidge's eyes widened. "Uhh. . . Shiro?"

"Stay together," he replied. "Let's get to our quarters and suit up."

Matt and Pidge grabbed their computers and followed the others as they trailed, single-file, after Shiro. Down one long corridor, up a lift, and around several corners they ran, Keith in rearguard position. As they neared the section of the castle containing their rooms, there was a dull _clang_ from somewhere below them.

They all froze.

Lance cleared his throat softly. "I think . . . they got in."


	3. Chapter 3

**This is an update to fix a major plot-hole - I somehow sent Shiro and Keith off without a comm-link, and then had Shiro using it . . .? The rest of the story will be finished soon, hopefully starting tomorrow. :)**

Lance cleared his throat softly. "I think . . . they got in."

Matt opened his computer, slid down to sit crosslegged on the floor, and typed in a forty-six-character password. "Get suited up, you guys. I've got this."

They hesitated for only a moment before rushing off to obey. Hunk and Pidge's rooms were on one side of the corridor a few minutes away, and Lance, Keith, and Shiro's were on the other side. They reached the hallway, dashed to either side –

Shiro slapped the panel that would open his door, barely pausing his forward momentum, and nearly walked face first into the metal. He skidded to a halt, hitting the panel again. Nothing happened.

To his left, Keith and Lance were in similar positions. Turning around, Shiro realized that Hunk and Pidge had gotten into their rooms just fine.

Keith folded his arms, glared at the door for a moment, then stuck the tip of his knife beneath the panel and pried it off. Despite the gravity of the situation, Shiro felt himself raising an eyebrow at how adept Keith seemed to be at hotwiring door panels. Pidge must have been teaching him or something, because it took about five ticks for Keith to splice a couple of wires together and for his door to open.

Pidge joined them, fully armored, and took the situation in at a glance. "It looks like they put this whole floor on lockdown," she informed them, setting to work on Lance's door.

Shiro removed the panel from his door, allowing Keith access to it. "Hunk's door and yours were fine," he observed.

She shrugged one shoulder. "We already put failsafes on ours, mostly so we wouldn't accidentally lock ourselves out when testing different codes. There."

Lance's door opened. He stepped forward, throwing Pidge a mock salute, and a bright flash of purple coincided with a sudden yell as he hit some sort of energy shield and rebounded, hitting the floor hard.  
"Lance!" Hunk shouted, rushing out. "You okay?"

"Uhhh." Lance shook his head and climbed slowly to his feet. "Yeah. . . I think so . . .Pidge, what _happened?_ "

Shiro's door was open now, but a warning crackle near his outstretched fingertips told him not to move any closer. Keith sheathed his knife and glanced at him. "I guess they don't want us getting our bayards."

Lance's eyes focused angrily on his open door. "Yeah? Well, too bad." He held out a hand, letting out his breath slowly, and a quick flash of energy zoomed through the shield to materialize in his hand.

"I didn't know we could do that," Pidge said interestedly, standing on her toes to peer over Lance's shoulder at his bayard. "I guess it makes sense, though, if my theories about the demolecularizing of –"

"Pidge, this isn't the time," Shiro interrupted, summoning his own bayard as Keith rushed to get his. "We've got to get to the bridge before the enemy does."

"Yeah, uh, hate to break it to you," said Hunk, raising a hand. "But if they were able to initiate lockdown on the whole level like that, they're already on the bridge."

"Then we'll make sure they don't stay there."

Pidge activated her comms. "Matt? We're on our way back to you. How's it looking? . . . Matt?"

She cast one panicked look in Shiro's direction and broke into a run, the others racing along behind her. The corridor where Matt had been was empty.

"Matt!" she called again. "Where are you?"

Something made a scraping noise above them, and, without even looking up, Pidge fired her bayard directly at the source.

A rather unmanly squeak sounded, and the paladins stared up at Matt, who was lying on his stomach in a ventilation shaft with only his face showing. His wide eyes regarded them for a moment before sliding left to view Pidge's bayard, which had lodged in the ceiling just above his head.

"Pidge?"

She blinked twice, then took a deep breath, her eyes snapping. "MATTHEW SAMUEL _HOLT_!" she raged, actually stamping her foot as she retracted the bayard with a _snap_. "Why didn't you answer me? I could have KILLED you!"

Lance reached out cautiously, his hands hovering above her shoulders as though to placate her. "Whoa, there, Pidge."

Matt glanced down at his shirt and the attached commlink, which was turned off. "Oh. Sorry, Katie, I guess I forgot."

"You _forgot?_ Hello, safety protocol number one! Never break communications with your team! We've only practiced it a hundred –"

Shiro finally intervened, pulling her firmly back. "All right, Pidge. It was an accident, okay? No harm done."  
"There will be in a moment," she snarled, folding her arms, but subsided.

Matt shifted around for a moment or two, trying to work his way out of the vent, then apparently gave up. He glanced down at the ground, sighed, and tumbled out of the vent headfirst.

Everyone stared down at him, not offering to help him up.

He scrambled to his feet, undaunted, and brushed his hair back. "So, what's the plan? Hang on. Why aren't you guys in your armor?"

"Because the intruders managed to lock down our rooms," said Lance.

\  
Keith, still staring at Matt, gestured helplessly at the vent. "What were you doing in there?"

"Hacking into a direct data feed. What else?" Matt's tone of voice seemed to indicate that clambering around in the ventilation system was a perfectly normal pasttime.

And maybe it was, for him. Shiro decided he was happier not knowing. He cleared his throat. "We need to identify the intruders and find out what they're doing here, as well as how many we're facing. Since only three of us have comms right now, we'll split into groups of two."

Without a word, Pidge stomped over to Matt, who gave his comm to Shiro. Lance shrugged cheerfully at Hunk, joining him. Keith stayed where he was, although he did lean slightly in Shiro's direction.

"Okay, that works," Shiro continued. "Pidge and Matt, scout around the crystal room. We might need you to control things from there. Lance, Hunk, get to the hangars. Matt, did you locate the breach?"

"Yeah. They forced one of the airlocks below the bridge."

"Then Keith and I'll head up in that direction." Matt handed Shiro his commlink, and Shiro added, "Keep in touch, guys, and stay hidden. No taking unnecessary risks."

Lance grinned and jerked a thumb in Keith's direction. "Good thing you're keeping an eye on him, then."

Keith glowered at him for a moment before casting a brief, self-conscious look at Shiro, who pretended not to notice.

"Also?" said Matt, opening his wrist consol. "I locked down all the common areas. Lounges, storage rooms, that type of thing. Those should be enemy-free, anyway . . . if this program's working, I mean."

Shiro looked back at him, mildly surprised. " _If_ it's working?"

Matt's eyes held a faraway, distracted look as he met his gaze. "I feel like I should be recognizing this – I'm seeing some anomalies in the ship's basic systems that are just _weird_. Something's interfering."

Another metallic screech shuddered through the floor, making everyone jump. Shiro put a hand on Matt's shoulder. "Pin it down if you can, but we're out of time. Everyone, head out!"


	4. Chapter 4

**I meant to put this at the very beginning of this story, and then I meant to put it in each of the subsequent chapters, so I'm fixing things now. This story is dedicated to GriffTalon, who was my first reviewer, and has kindly reviewed everything I've written since then, as well as giving me several great story ideas. Thanks! :)**

Allura, perfectly poised, stood beside her shuttle and gazed at the approaching Tolsians. They were a short race, the Tolsians, with bone-white skin and pale pink eyes. (Upon seeing a picture of them, Lance had referred to them as albinos – Allura wasn't certain as to why – and Pidge had launched into a rapid-fire explanation about pigmentation.)

"Princess Allura of Altea," said one, his voice strangely clipped. "We welcome you to our home planet. If you will please to follow us? Your quarters await."

"Very well." Allura inclined her head graciously, despite her disgruntled feeling at how the aliens were ignoring Coran.

Her advisor, naturally, seemed not to mind, but strode alongside her, hands clasped behind his back as he oohed and ahhed about every bit of alien technology they passed.

The Tolsian escorts stopped before a wide, low building and bowed, opening the door. Allura was forced to stoop quite a bit in order to enter, but she managed it gracefully. Coran contorted himself rather more than was strictly necessary as he followed, his back popping loudly when he straightened up again.

Allura gave him a look.

The Tolsian spokesman, his pink eyes gleaming, spoke again. "Princess Allura, if you will please to wait here, there is a visitor with whom you must speak."

Immediately, Allura's senses jumped to 'high alert'. _'With whom you_ must _speak?' Not a word usually found in diplomatic meetings. . .  
_  
Coran had obviously picked up on it, too, for he edged toward the door, one hand reaching for his communicator.

At his movement, two of the Tolsians stepped forward to block him. "You cannot leave."

Allura drew herself to her full height. "Who are you to command us? We are here at your council's invitation, and under no obligations to any of you!"

The spokesman gestured, and he and his companions left the room without a word. Coran charged after them, but the door slammed shut, just missing his outstretched hands.

"Quiznak!" He clenched his fists straight down at his sides. "In my younger days I could have caught them with twelve ticks to spare! . . . Or maybe more. Hm."

"It's all right, Coran." Allura glanced around the bare chamber. "Do you have any idea who our captor could be?"

"The Tolsians, who else?!" He folded his arms with a huff.

"Yes, but someone ordered them to detain us. They called him a 'visitor'."

"Ah, I see what you mean! It's the old capture-and-faldercrag routine!"

Before she could answer, the door opened again, and Allura raised an eyebrow. That had been. . . fast, to say the least.

"You may come forth," declared the spokesman.

Allura looked down her nose at him – an easy task, considering the Tolsians' height – and said, "If he wishes to speak with us, he may. I will wait for him."

A momentary flash of concern colored the spokesman's features, but then he bowed and withdrew. He and several others conferred frantically, and then the door creaked open.

"Princess Allura, you must come out. We will use force, if necessary." He sounded almost apologetic as he added, "We cannot risk angering our – guest."

Coran's mustache bristled. "And yet you risk angering the princess Allura of Altea? Sounds like you have your priorities mixed!"

Allura caught a glimpse of purple through the open doorway. "Very well," she said suddenly, bowing her head. "We will come."

The spokesman's pale eyes blinked rapidly in relief as he moved aside.

Outside once more, Allura stood erect, glaring at the huge Galra who lounged against a building, his elbow resting on the roof of the diminuitive people's council hall. He smiled nastily, revealing long fangs.

"Well, if it isn't the princess Allura and her faithful watchdog. Where are your other subjects?"

"Where are yours, _Galran?_ " she retorted. "If you plan to capture me, you'll need help."

"You have spirit, if nothing else," he mused.

Coran had, it seemed, had enough. "We have Voltron, and that's worth more than you'll ever have!"

"Voltron does not concern me," he replied smoothly. "But perhaps, as your new owner, I should introduce myself. My name is Tolvik."

Allura's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. "Tolvik. So it _was_ you who escaped from the base."

He smiled more widely. "And from your paladins." He raised a hand, and dozens of droids stepped out from the doorways and alleys surrounding the town square. Coran clenched his fists.

"You won't get away with this!" cried Allura, but her mind was racing. What did Tolvik mean when he said he didn't fear Voltron? Had he already destroyed the Castle of Lions?

A droid clanked up behind her, and she gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and _moved_. A swift step back put her alongside the droid, and her left elbow hooked over its gun, jerking it down. Ducking beneath its arms, she freed the gun and kicked off the droid, knocking it down.  
Coran had drawn his handgun and was aiming it at droid after droid even as Allura leapt onto the roof, her own gun pointed directly at Tolvik's head.

"Surrender, Galran."

Tolvik smiled.

 **Don't worry, we're back to the paladins in the next chapter. Again, if there's anything particular people wish to see in this story, drop me a note and I'll try to work it in. ;) And I won't say 'no' to reviews . . .**


	5. Chapter 5

**Again, my deepest apologies for my long absence. You can thank GriffTalon and Foeseeker for the fact that I finally sat down and wrote this chapter tonight; I was trying to catch up on reading their stories, and it sparked my writing powers. :) Hope you enjoy, and I'll try not to be so remiss in the future. . .**

Lance ran through the familiar corridors, Hunk close behind him. The blue paladin gripped his bayard tightly in both hands as he dodged and darted from doorway to doorway.

Hunk was slightly less fancy with his footwork, and therefore much less out of breath when they paused at the entrance to the main hangar. All the lions were together there, thanks to Allura's foresight. Lance poked his nose into the room and, when nothing happened, followed it with the rest of himself.

Blue's shield flickered off immediately, as did Yellow's. Lance turned his head sideways to ask Hunk, over his shoulder, "So now what? We go down and find Allura and Coran?"

Hunk blinked back at him, then turned on his comm. "Shiro? The lions are all here. Should we go after the princess?"

"Yes. The sooner we're all back together, the better. Once you leave, don't contact us unless you have to. Pidge says outside communications are being monitored."

"Yeah, okay, we'll head down to the planet then." Hunk signed off and looked over at Lance, who wore an impressively large frown. "Uh . . . Lance?"

"We would have to be the ones to leave," Lance huffed, heading over to Blue all the same.

Hunk trailed after him, confused. "Aren't you the one always wanting to help Allura? You know, the whole 'paladin rescuing princess' thing?"

"What?" Lance turned back, leaning one elbow against the supports of Blue's ramp. "No! I mean, yes, but . . ." He twisted his mouth to one side. "Whoever's invading the castle is already _here_. They're the ones we have to deal with. They probably don't even know Allura's gone."

The rending noise of bent metal sounded again, much closer this time, and Hunk whipped around to stare at the closed hangar doors. When he glanced back, his eyes much wider than normal, Lance gave him a nervous grin.

"On the other hand, we'll probably need Allura to beat whatever the heck that thing is with her cool Altean powers," he said.

Hunk didn't wait to hear more. Sprinting across the room, he rushed up Yellow's ramp and into the cockpit, pulling levers and pushing buttons before he was even properly seated.

The floor shook, and Pidge grabbed Matt's arm to steady herself. "I think they brought explosives," she observed.

"No, it's something else." Matt's large eyes grew even bigger as he glanced down at his datapad. "Contact Shiro."

She stood on her toes, bringing her helmet closer to his face, and he grabbed her wrist, punching a code into her consol. "Shiro, I think I remember where I saw this last. That mechanical Druid."

Pidge squawked. "What?!"

Keith's voice came faintly through her speakers. "What is he talking about?"

Shiro hesitated for a long moment, and when he spoke, his voice was more distant than normal. "Forget about the crystal room. Head up to the bridge, and be careful. Stay out of sight."

"Hurry up, Matt!" Pidge exclaimed as her brother stood motionless, staring down at his datapad as though the readings on it would somehow change themselves. When he blinked at her, she grabbed his hand with a huff and charged down the corridor. "We're heading your way, Shiro."

Keith crouched on one knee and peered around the corner of the hall leading directly to the bridge. "Clear," he whispered, and he and Shiro sprinted forward.

Another crash shook the floor, from somewhere far below them, and Shiro paused in the bridge doorway. "Lance, Hunk, what was that?"

"Uh, I don't know?" Hunk replied. "Something big's trying to get into the hangar."

"You guys get Allura back here, but warn her – if this Druid's who I think he is, he's extremely powerful."

"Right, no problem," said Hunk. "We're leaving now, so comms'll be cut off."

"Okay."

Seconds later, a streak of yellow and one of blue shot past the windows, headed through the twisting colors of the magnetic storm to the planet below.

"So," said Keith, as he and Shiro went to the center consol. "This mechanical Druid. What's so special about him?"

Shiro fiddled with the special commset he had been using and thought about the fact that he didn't appreciate being without his armor. "What's _not_ special about him? Back when Matt and I were first sent into the arena . . . he was always there; he made a lot of the decisions. Before I beat Myzax –"

The floor shook again, much closer. Keith readied his bayard. Shiro kept talking, in an odd monotone.

"Myzax killed a group of people, went crazy, headed for the audience. The Druid was able to control him with one word."

Keith frowned. "He can take over things?"

"I – I think Myzax was scared enough to obey."

The floor rippled. Keith realized what was going to happen half a second before it did. He snatched at Shiro's arm with one hand, dragging him back into the center consol, just as a tall form burst out of the metal at their feet, towering above them as it raised both arms.

Keith growled and stabbed forward, but the tall Druid simply swayed, allowing the bayard's point to pass it by an inch. Flicking a finger, it summoned a bolt of black energy that wound around Keith's throat, lifting him into the air.

Shiro jumped forward, his prosthetic flashing and his bayard held in his natural hand. "Let him go!"

The figure hesitated, tilting its many-eyed mask to one side, for perhaps half a second, then flung Keith backward, pinning him against the opposite wall with the strange energy. One long-fingered hand summoned a shield, blocking both of Shiro's attacks, and the other reached up to the mask, removing it.

Keith, struggling against the wall, nearly paused in surprise at the hideous visage behind the Druid was a Galra, but his face was a strange, bleached purple, white gash-shaped scars running up and down it from forehead to chin. A dark tongue appeared for an instant, licking misshapen lips, and the Druid rasped, "Surrender, Black Paladin."

Shiro staggered back, repelled by the powerful shield, cast a glance at Keith, and readied his weapons again, letting out a defiant growl.

The Druid cast his mask to one side. The black energy emanating from his hand lashed throughout the whole room, spearing Keith and Shiro, and the two of them crumpled to the ground side by side, numb and paralyzed.

Shiro focused every ounce of his will on moving as the Druid moved forward, speaking again. "I am Kalikk. Surrender."

 **I don't think I like Kalikk. :\ He's weird.**


	6. Chapter 6

Lance tested his comms again once he and Hunk had entered the atmosphere. "Hey, they work!" he said in surprise. "Hunk, what've you got?"

"My scanners are picking up a _lot_ of activity in the center of the town."

The blue paladin pursed his mouth up. "Uh, Hunk, buddy – I can see about twelve different islands right now – which town on which one?"

"There's a tracking beacon on Allura's shuttle, remember?"

Lance blinked, mildly annoyed with himself, and slapped his forehead. "You know what, you lead the way. Wait, a lot of activity?"  
"Yeah." Hunk frowned a little, tapping something in front of him, then scratched the back of his head. "If I'm right, a lot of them are droids. The number of biorhythms I'm getting doesn't match the number of energy signatures."

"Bio-thingamajigs don't match the energy-whatsits. Got it. Hunk, when we get there, you stay right above the shuttle, and I'll get Allura and Coran out. Something tells me a little sniping's gonna be in order." He grinned.

Allura stared at Tolvik's confident sneer for half an instant before her well-honed fighting instincts warned her to _move_. Flinging herself to one side, she just barely avoided Tolvik's clawed hand as he grabbed for her gun.

"Coran!" she called, firing at a droid that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "We must get back to the castle!"

"Um – just a moment, Princess! I – ahhhhhHHH! Get your hands off of me, you - you flimflamming scubbergrub!"

Allura whipped around in time to see Tolvik grab Coran and fling him over one shoulder. She narrowed her eyes, froze where she was, braced her wrist with one hand, and fired a single shot.

Tolvik lurched forward with a snarl as the laser impacted against the armor protecting the base of his skull. Coran yelped, tumbling to the ground and landing in a folded position that defied explanation.

He was up again in an instant. He hopped around Tolvik, always just out of the Galran's reach, jabbing at him and making absurd challenging noises.

Allura kicked over another droid and rushed towards the shuttle. She would have to start the shuttle, wait for it to warm up enough to take off, and come back to pick up Coran. . . The spacecraft hummed to life when she was still some distance from it, and she ran harder. "Coran, someone's stealing the shuttle!"

Her orange-haired advisor was still shouting. "HA! Can't get me that easily, Tolvik! You're dealing with Princess Allura and Coran!"  
The rest of his speech was drowned out in a roar of engines as the blue and yellow lions zoomed into view. Allura spared them one glance, then dove for the shuttle door. No Galran was going to steal _her_ shuttle – she paused, one hand upraised, her finger loose on the trigger.

The Tolsian spokesman climbed out of the pilot's seat and bowed. "Your ship is ready. My apologies to you for our conduct, Princess Allura. Go back to your castle, and if you will forgive us for betraying you, we would be honored to speak with you again at a later date."

Allura would be the first to admit that she was rather fond of making formal speeches, but even she was surprised at the spokesman's wordiness during a time like this. "Yes, thank you!" she said, already flipping switches.

He started to speak again, realized she was lifting off, and wisely decided to hop out instead. Allura swung the craft around before it was properly airborne and headed for Tolvik. Purple lasers danced around her as she flew, and she held tight to the controls, steadying the ship as it rocked with each impact.

"Hunk!" she called, before remembering that the comms were off.

As if in response, the yellow lion crashed down on a party of advancing droids, smashing them completely. The number of lasers pinging against the ship's hull lessened considerably.

*

Blue hovered in mid-air and opened her jaw. Lance crouched, one knee balanced on the very edge of her lip, and zoomed in on the non-fight taking place between Coran and –

"HUNK!" Lance yelled. "It's Tolvik!"

"Yep. Noticed." Yellow performed a flip that would have had Hunk moaning in earlier days, and another group of droids crumpled to the ground. "Not to rush you, buddy, but could you take him out or something?"

Lance fired directly at Tolvik's helmet.

Tolvik hunched a little, then turned to glance at Blue.

"What?!" yelped Lance. "Come _on,_ that was an awesome shot!"

Coran wound up and slammed a fist into Tolvik's upturned chin, then paused, his hand still against the Galran's face and his eyes very large. Slowly, he withdrew his hand, turned, and walked to the shuttle where Allura was waiting.

Tolvik stared after him as though confused. Lance shot at him again.

The huge Galran finally seemed to realize that his armor would not hold up forever under the increasing onslaught from the blue paladin's shots, and he ran towards a fighter that waited in a corner of the town square.

"We'll get him later!" Lance called as Yellow chased the fleeing Tolvik. "We've gotta get back to the others!"

 **Fun fact - I didn't actually know that flimflamming was a word until I realized it wasn't underlined with red, like most of the proper names in here are. :) According to Merriam-Webster, it means 'deceptive nonsense', so I guess it fits anyway. . . Learn something new every day, I guess. :)**

 **Please review!**


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